Loved For Once
by nico-mio-angelo
Summary: Nico sat in his room hiding under his covers in complete darkness, wishing he didn't exist and attempting to pretend  Annabeth wasn't swaying with Percy to the music in the room next door. But it was impossible. He felt numbed by his emotions,  it was as if  son of Poseidon himself sent tidal wave after tidal wave of earth shattering sadness onto him.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, just really quick. This is my first fan fiction. I apologize for comma errors and any other errors. Grammar and such has never been my strong suit. Please enjoy let me know what you think, positive or negative I really want to know what you think. Thanks a ton! -nicomioangelo

It was many months after his incident in Croatia, but the memory still burned like ice on flesh. Despite having told himself _not_ under any circumstances to think about it, on this particular night it was impossible. Leo has prepared a small party in celebration of Percy and Annabeth's return from Tartarus, with food, music and dancing. Naturally he refused to take part in any such activities. (Especially ones that included Percy and Annabeth slow-dancing and Jason throwing sympathetic glances in his direction, as if his pity would result in a breakup between the two.) Jason's glances bothered him _almost_ as much as the couple's dancing, he thought Jason was being a bit too obvious staring at him like that. (Although he would _never_ admit it, having someone to share such an enormous burden with came with a certain amount of relief, but that relief came with a cost -that the second party may spill the truth. Not like he had had the choice to tell Jason, if he had, he wouldn't have told him in the first place. He was accustomed to solitude ever since his sister Bianca died; opening up and confiding in people went against his deepest nature. ) He had attended the party for the amount of time it took for Jason to drag him there, (insisting he needed to spend time with his crew), to drink a few sodas and leave the very second he spotted Percy and Annabeth in a tight embrace. (Jason couldn't blame him.)

Now he sat in his room, hiding under his covers in complete darkness, wishing he didn't exist and attempting to pretend Annabeth wasn't swaying, tightly surrounded by Percy's taunt arms, to the music. But this was impossible, especially as the music of the party was audible from his room. He felt numbed by his emotions, it was as if son of Poseidon himself sent tidal wave after tidal wave of earth shattering sadness onto him. He rocked back and forth, his arms tightly wrapped around his knees, holding himself, as there was no one else who would hold him. (Something he craved for, although you would _never_ hear him say it.) In a desperate attempt to avoid these feelings, he tried to concentrate on the music seeping through his walls from the party. '_I want to break free, I want to break free from this love'._ It was like the gods had chosen the song to taunt him. But it's lyrics preached the truth, he would have sold his soul not to have to feel anymore, not to be...different. But he would never be free, he was doomed to be miserable forever. The fates had chosen his path, a lonely path as the son of Hades, living in the wrong era, with the wrong people and with feelings his friends would never come to accept or understand. '_Its strange but it's true, I can't get over the_ _way I love you like I do' _It felt like Freddie Mercury was narrating his life. He was so helplessly in love and he couldn't break free from it, the more he tried to distance himself from him, the more his heart clung to him. '_God knows I want to break free_' this part was the most awful, as it had been Eros who forced him to confess his feelings in front of Jason. He couldn't help but think he had been set up, a life full of misery for godly entertainment. '_Oh how I want to break free_' but he would never be free. This was his ball on a chain for him to drag along forever. As the song ended, so did all his self restraint. Tears blurred his vision and he found even the crying could not be a source of relief to him, as the taste of salt tears just reminded Nico of him...

Hazel sat giggling in the midst of the party on board the Argo II, she had just witnessed Frank turn into a bright pink flamingo in the middle of their slow-dance. Despite being thoroughly embarrassed, Frank had offered to continue dancing, but she could tell he was exhausted, so she had sent him to bed. She now sat in the corner, holding a cup of kool-aid, chuckling to herself. She surveyed the party. As she observed the absence of her half brother, Nico, she set out to look for him. (Not like Percy and Annabeth or Jason and Piper would be missing her, both couples were thoroughly occupied on their own. ) She stood outside Nico's room, thinking it best to knock, when she heard, what she could have sworn were sobs. Nico crying? There had to be a mistake. She opened the door turning on the light while she was at it. "Nico?" Sudden silence stretched throughout the room as she made her way to the figure on the bed. "Is everything...? Nico spun around, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. They were bright red. He sprung up to make a dash for the he patch of shadow a few feet away. Understanding what his intentions were, she tackled his midsection. But she had been too slow, the two of them were already melting into the shadows. They reappeared in the shallows of a beach. The whiff of salt reached her nostrils, saltwater drenching her clothes. The beach was completely empty and the only lights were lining a dock near by. A sound of utter grief emanated from Nico, who lay on his knees shaking in the water. Hazel waded over to him, desperately trying to think what was going on with her half brother. "Is it Bianca?" He shook his bowed head. She kneeled down beside him, wrapping her arms around him, forcing him to look at her. His eyes were averted. Annabeth. She had heard rumors that he had a crush on her. "Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to guess?" Silence was the only response she got. "Is this about a girl?" Nico's muscles seized up. "Annabeth?" Nico's body shook beneath her arm and the ground trembled, cracks spread across the ground and dead hands reached out of the water. Nico tossed her away from him. He was beyond grief, he had crossed the border to extreme rage. Nico was screaming at the top of his lungs, his dead warriors emerging from the water. Hazel knew she had to do something. Maybe she could use the mist to pacify him. So she concentrated and called upon the mist, willing it to bend to her will. She created a cave, with a cherry tree in blossom hanging over them. She created an atmosphere of tranquility. Nico slowly sank to the ground, as if in a stupor. Hazel walked over to his hunched over form and took hold of hands, pulling him up into her arms. After hugging him for what felt like forever, she took his face in her hands. "What's going on, huh?"

He looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. He felt ashamed and impure standing in her arms, he wasn't even worthy of her. He was worthy of no one, he was destined for loneliness. He could not tell her. She was older than he, that she would understand or sympathize was unthinkable. She would leave him and he would really have no one left. He could not tell her. "Nothing, leave before I hurt you." "That was NOT nothing. And I am not going anywhere before I know what in Jupiter's name just happened." "I told you, it's nothing, I - I was being stupid. I'm fine. Really." She took his face in her hands and he finally looked into her eyes. "Its just... I can' wouldn't understand. Please just leave. " "In case you hadn't noticed", Hazel huffed, "You're the one who shadow traveled us here and I haven't the faintest where we are and in order for either of us to leave we will need your cooperation. But we can worry about that later. I want you to tell me what is going on. I am a girl, I do understand feelings you know, if you want to-". At this Nico has grabbed a fist full of his hair, and screamed, "NO ONE CAN UNDERSTAND!" "But you won't know that until you've tried! You act like you're all alone, but you're NOT! _I'm_ here for you! And so is the rest of the crew! You shy us away, hiding from anyone who tries to get anywhere near you! Please believe me when I say I care." She had now made it over to his drooping form, taking a hold of his shoulder. "You need to let go." "I can't" he mumbled to the ground. "Fine.- We'll do it slowly.- Is this about a family member?" Head shake. "A girl?" Pause, heavy sigh then a definite head shake, Nico sank to the floor again, with his hands over his eyes. If it wasn't a girl...surely not... Suddenly she was extremely curious. Nico in love was one thing, but in love with...well she would never had come up with it in a million years. "Who is it?" His silence was a deafening as ever. She thought long and hard. The party, the salt water, the rumor about Annabeth. "Ohhhhh" She sighed, sinking to the ground in front of him. "Look at me." He ignored her. "You sulking will not evaporate your feelings for him." At this, silent fresh tears streamed down his face. "Look-at-me." She hugged him and rocked him back and forth, increasing the amount of tears running down his face. After what felt like eons, Nico took in multiple deep breaths and roughly wiped the tears off his face. He turned to his sister. "Why don't you hate me?" "What for?" She replied. "Having a big heart? No. Come on, let's go." They held hands and became one with the shadows.

Thanks again for reading and please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Hi, just really quick. This is my first fan fiction. I apologize for comma errors and any other errors. Grammar and such has never been my strong suit. Please enjoy let me know what you think, positive or negative I really want to know what you think. Thanks a ton! -nicomioangelo

It was many months after his incident in Croatia, but the memory still burned like ice on flesh. Despite having told himself _not_ under any circumstances to think about it, on this particular night it was impossible. Leo has prepared a small party in celebration of Percy and Annabeth's return from Tartarus, with food, music and dancing. Naturally he refused to take part in any such activities. (Especially ones that included Percy and Annabeth slow-dancing and Jason throwing sympathetic glances in his direction, as if his pity would result in a breakup between the two.) Jason's glances bothered him _almost_ as much as the couple's dancing, he thought Jason was being a bit too obvious staring at him like that. (Although he would _never_ admit it, having someone to share such an enormous burden with came with a certain amount of relief, but that relief came with a cost -that the second party may spill the truth. Not like he had had the choice to tell Jason, if he had, he wouldn't have told him in the first place. He was accustomed to solitude ever since his sister Bianca died; opening up and confiding in people went against his deepest nature. ) He had attended the party for the amount of time it took for Jason to drag him there, (insisting he needed to spend time with his crew), to drink a few sodas and leave the very second he spotted Percy and Annabeth in a tight embrace. (Jason couldn't blame him.)

Now he sat in his room, hiding under his covers in complete darkness, wishing he didn't exist and attempting to pretend Annabeth wasn't swaying, tightly surrounded by Percy's taunt arms, to the music. But this was impossible, especially as the music of the party was audible from his room. He felt numbed by his emotions, it was as if son of Poseidon himself sent tidal wave after tidal wave of earth shattering sadness onto him. He rocked back and forth, his arms tightly wrapped around his knees, holding himself, as there was no one else who would hold him. (Something he craved for, although you would _never_ hear him say it.) In a desperate attempt to avoid these feelings, he tried to concentrate on the music seeping through his walls from the party. '_I want to break free, I want to break free from this love'._ It was like the gods had chosen the song to taunt him. But it's lyrics preached the truth, he would have sold his soul not to have to feel anymore, not to be...different. But he would never be free, he was doomed to be miserable forever. The fates had chosen his path, a lonely path as the son of Hades, living in the wrong era, with the wrong people and with feelings his friends would never come to accept or understand. '_Its strange but it's true, I can't get over the_ _way I love you like I do' _It felt like Freddie Mercury was narrating his life. He was so helplessly in love and he couldn't break free from it, the more he tried to distance himself from him, the more his heart clung to him. '_God knows I want to break free_' this part was the most awful, as it had been Eros who forced him to confess his feelings in front of Jason. He couldn't help but think he had been set up, a life full of misery for godly entertainment. '_Oh how I want to break free_' but he would never be free. This was his ball on a chain for him to drag along forever. As the song ended, so did all his self restraint. Tears blurred his vision and he found even the crying could not be a source of relief to him, as the taste of salt tears just reminded Nico of him...

Hazel sat giggling in the midst of the party on board the Argo II, she had just witnessed Frank turn into a bright pink flamingo in the middle of their slow-dance. Despite being thoroughly embarrassed, Frank had offered to continue dancing, but she could tell he was exhausted, so she had sent him to bed. She now sat in the corner, holding a cup of kool-aid, chuckling to herself. She surveyed the party. As she observed the absence of her half brother, Nico, she set out to look for him. (Not like Percy and Annabeth or Jason and Piper would be missing her, both couples were thoroughly occupied on their own. ) She stood outside Nico's room, thinking it best to knock, when she heard, what she could have sworn were sobs. Nico crying? There had to be a mistake. She opened the door turning on the light while she was at it. "Nico?" Sudden silence stretched throughout the room as she made her way to the figure on the bed. "Is everything...? Nico spun around, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. They were bright red. He sprung up to make a dash for the he patch of shadow a few feet away. Understanding what his intentions were, she tackled his midsection. But she had been too slow, the two of them were already melting into the shadows. They reappeared in the shallows of a beach. The whiff of salt reached her nostrils, saltwater drenching her clothes. The beach was completely empty and the only lights were lining a dock near by. A sound of utter grief emanated from Nico, who lay on his knees shaking in the water. Hazel waded over to him, desperately trying to think what was going on with her half brother. "Is it Bianca?" He shook his bowed head. She kneeled down beside him, wrapping her arms around him, forcing him to look at her. His eyes were averted. Annabeth. She had heard rumors that he had a crush on her. "Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to guess?" Silence was the only response she got. "Is this about a girl?" Nico's muscles seized up. "Annabeth?" Nico's body shook beneath her arm and the ground trembled, cracks spread across the ground and dead hands reached out of the water. Nico tossed her away from him. He was beyond grief, he had crossed the border to extreme rage. Nico was screaming at the top of his lungs, his dead warriors emerging from the water. Hazel knew she had to do something. Maybe she could use the mist to pacify him. So she concentrated and called upon the mist, willing it to bend to her will. She created a cave, with a cherry tree in blossom hanging over them. She created an atmosphere of tranquility. Nico slowly sank to the ground, as if in a stupor. Hazel walked over to his hunched over form and took hold of hands, pulling him up into her arms. After hugging him for what felt like forever, she took his face in her hands. "What's going on, huh?"

He looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. He felt ashamed and impure standing in her arms, he wasn't even worthy of her. He was worthy of no one, he was destined for loneliness. He could not tell her. She was older than he, that she would understand or sympathize was unthinkable. She would leave him and he would really have no one left. He could not tell her. "Nothing, leave before I hurt you." "That was NOT nothing. And I am not going anywhere before I know what in Jupiter's name just happened." "I told you, it's nothing, I - I was being stupid. I'm fine. Really." She took his face in her hands and he finally looked into her eyes. "Its just... I can' wouldn't understand. Please just leave. " "In case you hadn't noticed", Hazel huffed, "You're the one who shadow traveled us here and I haven't the faintest where we are and in order for either of us to leave we will need your cooperation. But we can worry about that later. I want you to tell me what is going on. I am a girl, I do understand feelings you know, if you want to-". At this Nico has grabbed a fist full of his hair, and screamed, "NO ONE CAN UNDERSTAND!" "But you won't know that until you've tried! You act like you're all alone, but you're NOT! _I'm_ here for you! And so is the rest of the crew! You shy us away, hiding from anyone who tries to get anywhere near you! Please believe me when I say I care." She had now made it over to his drooping form, taking a hold of his shoulder. "You need to let go." "I can't" he mumbled to the ground. "Fine.- We'll do it slowly.- Is this about a family member?" Head shake. "A girl?" Pause, heavy sigh then a definite head shake, Nico sank to the floor again, with his hands over his eyes. If it wasn't a girl...surely not... Suddenly she was extremely curious. Nico in love was one thing, but in love with...well she would never had come up with it in a million years. "Who is it?" His silence was a deafening as ever. She thought long and hard. The party, the salt water, the rumor about Annabeth. "Ohhhhh" She sighed, sinking to the ground in front of him. "Look at me." He ignored her. "You sulking will not evaporate your feelings for him." At this, silent fresh tears streamed down his face. "Look-at-me." She hugged him and rocked him back and forth, increasing the amount of tears running down his face. After what felt like eons, Nico took in multiple deep breaths and roughly wiped the tears off his face. He turned to his sister. "Why don't you hate me?" "What for?" She replied. "Having a big heart? No. Come on, let's go." They held hands and became one with the shadows.

Thanks again for reading and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

p style="margin: 0px 0px 13.3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Nico's eyes fluttered open and he bolted up. His surroundings were blurry and sunlight blinded his vision. "How long have I-" " A day and a half." Reyna's voice was dripping with disapprovement. "Had us worried like crazy," Coach Hedge scowled, "had us force-feeding you and everything!" He reddened at the thought of Reyna or Coach Hedge stuffing food and water down his esophagus. "Well I'm fine now, so-" The look Reyna gave him silenced him. "You need to be honest with us. The life of many people depend on us getting this statue back. And I know you want to speed this up, but killing yourself on the way won't do anyone any good. Least of all, you." Her superior tone irritated Nico, she was not his mother, he did not have to answer to her. She may be praetor, but as he was greek, he felt no allegiance to her. "I swear I'm fine!" he spat. "Swear on the river Styx." She countered him with a raised eyebrow. Nico thought about it, he was fine. Physically that is, he had had a day and a half of rest, but emwas/em he fine? No, he was an emotional wreck. He decided to dodge her request. "Do you want me to run some laps to prove how fit I am? I'm alright, let's get a move on." She eyed him suspiciously. "Really. I am, I'll have a bit of breakfast and we can go." Nico barely ever ate, he did this only to assuage Reyna. The coach handed him a sandwich and he ate in uncomfortable silence, while Reyna and Coach watched him, as if they could tell whether or not he was lying if they looked at him hard enough. He looked away, gazing at his surroundings. Suddenly his mind was alert, his fingers gripping his stygian sword. He didn't know exactly what had sounded the alarm in his mind, but his senses told him something was off. Reyna and Coach Hedge flew into silent battle mode instantaneously, upon seeing Nico's stance. That's when he saw the slightest movement in the shadows of a tree across from him. Whatever it was, was hiding behind the tree. He called upon the shadows, traveling to the patch of shadow it was hiding in. Sword poised, he lunged at the figure. "STOP!" Nico looked up. A kid with chestnut brown hair sprouting from all over his round head held his arms in front of face, as if it would prevent him from being speared through with Nico's sword. Reyna grabbed the boy from behind, holding her wicked golden dagger to his neck. "Why are you spying on us? Tell me who sent you!" Despite being threatened with multiple weapons from multiple sides, the only sign of fear the kid showed was a nervous tick in his leg. Upon further inspection, the boy's leg was not shaking as if out of fright, but more like a painful spasm. That's when Nico noticed the blood speared all over his ratty jeans. "I'm not spying on you anymore than you are spying on me, or is this suddenly emyour/em field? Because the last time I checked this is government property." "Who-are-you?" Reyna threatened. "What would make me want to tell you? You're holding a knife to my neck! I'll tell you my name as soon as you tell me yours." "It's Nico," Nico growled, "Now tell us, who sent you? Was it Octavian?" "I work for no one, especially not a person with such a dumb name. I serve myself." "But you're a demigod?" " 'Course he is," Hedge growled, "wouldn't be able to see the knife otherwise, would he?" Something flickered across the boy's face, but only for a second, after which his face returned to it's previous scowl. "Then who's your godly parent? Or are you undetermined? How old are you?" "That's as much of your business as this field is your's, now if you would get that knife off of me, that would be great." He spoke without an ounce of fear in his voice, as if this was daily routine for him. "Nico, check if he's armed." Nico debated telling her he wasn't her servant, but thought better of it. Keeping his sword trained on the boy, he edged closer to him. The boy's chestnut brown hair stuck out in all direction as if struck by lightning, freckles scattered his round face, emphasizing his bright blue eyes that glinted with something he couldn't identify. He was of medium hight, Nico estimated he was somewhere between fourteen and fifteen in age, but you could never be sure. He wore a blue hoody, with rolled up sleeves which revealed his lightly tanned and freckled arms. His left wrist had a solid gold band around it. His jeans were bloody and torn on one leg and his sneakers were in no better condition. Nico hesitated at the prospect of feeling through this stranger's pockets, but went ahead and checked them for weapons anyway. Once having completed the awkward task of reaching into the front and back pockets of someones jeans and finding them empty, as well as the backpack lying next to the kid, he backed away. In doing so, he accidentally brushed the boys bloody leg, causing him to flinch in pain. "He's all clear, Reyna, let him go. He's injured." Reluctantly she removed her dagger from his neck and backed away a pace or two, but still within reach to tackle him if the need arose. He sighed and slid down the back of the tree onto the ground, apparently too injured to remain upright. "Whatcha' going to do now, huh? Strip me to see if I'm keeping grenades in my boxers?" Despite his obvious injury and exhaustion, the cockiness in his voice was crystal clear. At loss, Nico glanced over at Reyna, who responded, "We'll take him captive, force him to tell us the truth. Help me bring him over to the campfire." Coach Hedge stooped over and scooped him up in one forceful motion, setting him down in front of the fire. "What happened to your leg? Let me-" "What's it to you?" He sneered at the satyr. "Listen sonny if you want that leg bandaged you better cooperate." "Why are you aiding him? He could be an enemy!" "Doubt it." Coach countered Reyna, "But go on interrogating him and see. Meanwhile, I'll take care of his leg, he's lost enough blood as it is." "Who is your godly parent and who are you working for?" Reyna demanded. "I told you, I don't work for anyone but myself." Nico realized he dodged all questions related to being a demigod, he assumed the kid was undetermined and had run away from home, as thousands of others of his kind had done. "Reyna, if he was any sort of threat to us he would have weapons or something on him. No demigod slave of Octavian would come here unarmed." "Fine. Why are you here? How did you find us?" Reyna was losing her patience with the situation. "I didn't 'emfind/em' you! emYou're /emthe one who attacked emme/em! I'm only here because I ran away- left...OW!" he yelled as coach cut off his pant leg, which was glued to his leg from all the dried blood. "And where were you going?" She asked, her voice thick with suspicion. "Right, how is this your business?" He asked, cringing as Coach tightened his bandage. "You're impossible!" Reyna shouted exasperated. "This is a waste of our time. Octavian may already be at Camp Half-Blood. Let's just leave him here." "Fine." Coach said, gathering his things together. "Wait, please take me. You can't just leave me here!" "Watch us! We don't even know you. We haven't got room for one more." "Room in what?" He said glancing around, as if looking for a large shiny limousine "Fine. I ran away, I need somewhere to go. Take me with you. emPlease/em." "We can't just-" Reyna began, looking at Nico for support. "He's just one of the thousand demigods I brought to camp, he doesn't seem to be a threat to any of us-" "He might be an enemy!" Reyna cut through Hedge. "How's this," Nico interjected, stepping between the two, "We confiscate his bag and bind his hands together and take him with us. We aren't that far away anyway. I'm feeling a lot stronger than yesterday. Worse comes to worse we'll drop him off somewhere along the way. We're still doing him a favor." Nico couldn't really explain to himself why he was defending this random kid. He didn't even know his name. Maybe because he knew what it felt like to be abandoned and alone. He and his sister had been left at a boarding school before they were brought to Camp Half Blood. And after Bianca had died he had been alone as well. He reasoned helping this kid get to Camp would be ok. Nico just had this gut feeling that the kid was telling the truth. "Fine." Reyna surrendered, "At least tell us your name."A huge toothy smile spread across his face. "Lysander."

Hi there. Ok I guess not ACTUAL ROMANCE yet, but have patience ok?

Please remember to review, I smile with every single one of them!

-nicomioangelo

/p


	4. Chapter 4

No much to say, please enjoy, again sorry for any mistakes and thanks for coming this far.

Nico had made two journeys for the day and declared he should rest before his next one. He wasn't _that_ tired, but he wanted to stay in Reyna's good books and it was dark anyway. Only as he was unpacking a few of his belongings out of his bag, did he notice how exhausted Reyna looked. "Hey Reyna, you've been guarding for the past three nights, it's my turn to guard. Yes, I'm too tired for shadow traveling," Nico continued when she showed signs of interrupting,"but I'm awake enough to guard for a couple hours. Let me guard and I'll wake you up when I'm tired. You too Coach." Reyna agreed, groggily retrieving her sleeping-bag from her backpack. Coach had just flopped onto his side, grasping his bat. Nico turned to Lysander. "You can sleep too if you like." Lysander snorted. "I have too many questions for sleeping." Nico sighed, he had rather been hoping to have some alone time with his thoughts, maybe send an Iris message to Hazel, but that was no longer an option. He would have loved to tell Lysander he would answer his questions tomorrow, but he knew exactly what it was like to be new to this whole new 'demigod universe'. "What do you want to know?" Nico asked, placing himself across from Lysander, the campfire crackling brightly between them. "Ok, so explain this whole demigod deal and this Blood Camp and your teleporting." "Well first off, a demigod is a half god, if you're a demigod, one of your parents is a god. In this case either Greek or Roman. Camp Half Blood is where the greek demigods stay, some all year around, others only for the summer. Some didn't know they were demigods before they were brought to camp, sometimes their human parent didn't even know that they had met a god or goddess. Some kids don't even know which god their parent is. Although sometimes you can guess according to their powers, but that doesn't always work. Recently the Gods agreed to claim all their children by the time they are thirteen, but in some cases it doesn't happen.

One thing unites all the demigods, they usually only grow up with one parent, because most gods leave after the kid is born. It's cruel, but that's how it goes." Lysander let that mull over for a while. "Ok, and your teleporting?" "It's one of my powers as a demigod, I can shadow travel. Although it's very tiring to take so many people." Lysander nodded slowly as if he was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of being half god. "And so which parent is godly for you?" He noticed Nico's jaw clench and realized it was quite a personal question. "Or...Never mind-" "No," Nico said, his voice brittle, "it's ok. It's my dad. I don't know how well you know you're mythology-" "pretty well, had it in history this year." Lysander interjected. "Well you wanna take a guess?" Nico said it with a taint of malice in his voice. "Um alright, I'll place my bet on Erebus, god of darkness and shadows. You said you shadow travel..." Nico raised an eyebrow. "You said you learned greek mythology in history? Must have been one in depth course, Erebus is quite a minor god, good guess though. No, My dad's a lot worse then Erebus." Lysander's face was impassive. "Hades." Nico's expression was resentful, Lysander gathered there was some sort of rift going on between Nico and his father, he could relate to that feeling. "I never really thought Hades was bad, to me he just seemed exiled and lonely. They played him as creepy, because of his realm, but how is it his fault that he got last pick and ended up with the Underworld?" "You might think differently if you met him." Nico's voice was scornful. Moments of silence passed, both boys deep in thought. "What about your parent?" Nico finally whispered into the flames. "Do you know which one, and who it is?" Lysander looked panicked for a split second as if at war with his thoughts. Finally he responded. "I don't know. My dad is definitely _not_ a god." At the mention of his dad, Lysander tucked his knees into his chest, wrapping his arms around and his chin on top of them. "So your mom it is," Nico finished more to himself than anyone. "Got any special powers or abilities?" Lysander shook his head. So there they sat, staring in the flames until Nico woke Reyna for her shift, advising Lysander to sleep as well.

They had been traveling for three more days, collecting some minor injuries due to being attacked by a few minor monsters on the way; ( Nothing a team consisting of Reyna, Coach Hedge and Nico couldn't take on without sending the monster crying for it's mother.) when Nico announced that their next shadow travel would be their last. " We are within a couple hundred miles from Camp Half Blood, our next step is to figure out from which side to enter. Guards will have been set up to patrol all sides of the camp for the upcoming attack. Shadow traveling directly into the camp is an option, but it's risky as I don't know what sort of protections may have been installed. I would say it's not worth the risk. Now Reyna said that the Romans intend to attack from this side. (Nico gestured with a stick to the west side of his dirt drawing of Camp Half Blood.) So I suggest we enter through the gate here, on the east side." Everyone consented, even Lysander, who gestured through a curt nod of his head. Nico suspected he had no idea what was actually being said, but wanted to feel more like a team mate than a captive. They had stopped binding his hands together as he seemed no threat to the group at all. On the contrary, he seemed eager to prove his worth to them, helping with firewood or water replenishing. Nico had come to enjoy his presence and subconsciously thought of him as a friend. (Although he wouldn't admit it to himself, because he doesn't have friends. And he firmly believed there were reasons for that.) He had filled Lysander in as much as he could about the goings on in the demigod world. Lysander didn't seem to have as hard a time wrapping his mind around the concept, which shocked Nico a little, but then again most demigods grew up knowing that there was something going on, or that they were special. What confused Nico the most was who Lysander's Mom could be. With most demigods you could at least make an educated guess, but with Lysander he was at a complete loss. Nico figured it must be a very minor goddess. Another reason why Nico enjoys Lysander's company, is that Lysander showed no prejudice towards Nico. Most cringe at the sight of Nico or at the knowledge of his parentage, but Lysander doesn't seem to care in the slightest. "Sounds like a plan then," Coach added, bringing Nico out of his thoughts. "we'll depart for the gate on Half Blood Hill tomorrow." "Yes," Nico agreed, "but let me warn you that I can't promise exactly how close I can bring us to the gate. Shadow traveling is rather spontaneous, we may have to go by foot for a short distance." "Nothing we can't handle." Reyna declared. She had spent the last hour practicing her aim with her dagger. Which is to say hitting every target she aimed for flawlessly. Coach Hedge and Reyna declared first watch, dismissing Nico and Lysander to rest. Nico noticed Lysander's longing glance in Reyna's direction, most likely he wished he was armed for the upcoming journey. "I could teach you." Lysander looked at Nico in disbelief. "_You_ are gonna teach _me_ how to sword fight?" "If you want, Nico shrugged, pulling a spare sword out of one of his bags. It wasn't anything special like Nico's Stygian sword, but it would do for a few starting sessions. Nico got on to his feet and handed Lysander the sword. "Here you go." Lysander marveled at it. He had never held anything like it before. And so Nico taught him a few sword fighting basics so that Lysander would be able to defend himself at least a little the next day.

Lysander had been stuck for a while on a particular move, which involved Lysander taking a step forward and thrusting the blade to his left. His feet kept getting tangled on the steps. "No!" Nico growled, growing impatient, "Like this." He stood behind Lysander grabbing his arms and demonstrating the steps as if they were one person. "Exactly." Nico said approvingly. He had been so sucked into teaching Lysander how to sword fight, he hadn't realized how close together they were standing. Nico was basically hugging the boy from behind. Taking a few hurried steps backwards, redness crept up his neck to his face. Something he was grateful that Lysander didn't notice, as he was busy repeating the new steps over and over for practice. Nico disliked contact, he only ever let Hazel touch him. But then again, she was his sister.

Later that evening Nico attempted to fall asleep, but found he was too restless to. Percy and Hazel kept popping into his mind. Where were they, and were they ok? He didn't know. His heart ached, they were probably having a blast with the rest of the crew aboard the Argo II without him. Percy and Annabeth tightly embraced, sharing stories and drinking hot chocolate. Nico felt like crying, he had been able to avoid thinking about him for the past few days due to the distraction of the journey and his exhaustion from shadow traveling, but tonight visions of Percy and the rest of the crew having fun and being together while he was in the middle of nowhere with a war crazed satyr, a bossy roman chick and some random demigod hitchhiker, haunted him. He took his anger out on a handful of leaves, by tearing them to shreds and tossing them into the ruby flames. "Those leaves planning world domination or something?" Lysander asked. Nico could hear the smile in his voice and threw the last of the leaves into the fire, where he watched them reduce to cinders. If only he could tear up his feelings for Percy and burn them up as easily. "Don't worry, we'll get there alright and stop that stupid Octobrain," Lysander reassured him. "Octavian?" Nico offered. "What I said," Lysander shrugged. "Yeah I know," Nico responded earnestly. Nico figured Lysander had mistaken his pained expression for one of worry. Lysander surveyed Nico, as if slightly confused about something, but shrugged it off and returned to fiddling with something Nico couldn't quite make out.

Thanks again, please review and have a nice day!(or night or whatever) -nicomioangelo


	5. Chapter 5

p style="margin: 0px 0px 13.3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Nico took a deep breath, he was seconds away from leaving for Camp Half Blood. They had forged a plan. Nico stood in the center carrying the statue, surrounded by Lysander, Coach Hedge and Reyna, weapons poised facing away from Nico. Prepared for any sort of attack they may encounter. The plan was for Nico to shadow travel them as close to the gateway as possible and then to shadow travel himself and the statue through the gate as soon as it was in sight, incase they were to be attacked. They were all extremely nervous. With each of them holding on to a different part of him, Nico asked "Ready?" Curt nods were his only response. "Three, two, one!" And they materialized into darkness. Nico barely had a few seconds to get his bearings, when utter chaos broke out around him. They were entirely surrounded by a group of five fire breathing horses. On closer inspection he realized, that they were in fact only half horse, they had the legs and feathers of a chicken. The name Hippalectryon surfaced into his mind. They could breathe fire and had razor sharp poisonous talons. He felt a desire to laugh at their slightly humorous appearance, but was cut short as Reyna narrowly avoided a blast of their flames. Nico looked around him and then he spotted it, a few feet away, the gate. Effortlessly he was able to call upon the shadows to transport him through the gate. Immediately he was seized by greek guards. "It's me! Take this," he said flinging the statue at them, "bring it to Chiron, he'll know what to do with it! I need to help my friends! And don't leave your post!" Nico snarled, as they showed signs of wanting to help. He ran back amidst the action, pulling his Stygian sword out of it's sheath. "Come on!" he shouted at Reyna and Coach Hedge "We need to get through the gate!" Reyna and Coach Hedge retreated towards the gate, Nico close behind them. Reyna was losing pace, holding a bloody gash on her arm. Nico suspected she had become a victim to the talons of the Hippalectryon. She gasped and tumbled to the ground. "I'll get her!" Coach shouted, pushing Nico to the side. Together they trooped towards the gate. Ten feet. Nine feet. The Hippalectryon were close behind. Seven feet. Nico could feel the heat on his heels. Two feet, and then he heard a scream. He had forgotten about Lysander. Apparently Coach had too, because he turned around looking concerned. "No! Take Reyna to the infirmary, I'll get him! GO!" Nico shouted, as coach showed signs of protest. Rolling sideways to avoid a blast of fire, he ducked into a patch of shadow, reappearing a few feet back, from where he had thought Lysander's scream had come. Lysander was lying tangled in a patch of roots, apparently stuck. Nico slashed at them, freeing his feet. "We have to hurry!" Nico yelled, as he saw two of the Hippalectryon advance on them. "Why don't you shadow travel?!" "I don't know if I have the strength to do that! Can you run?" Lysander got to his feet and nodded. And so they sprinted towards the gate, they were mere feet away, when he saw Lysander trip, falling head first into the ground. Nico groaned but spun around none the less. That's when one of the Hippalectryon came charging at him. Rolling forward, he took it by surprise and was able to stab it through it's stomach. The thing burst into flames, but not before it managed to spew Nico's shoulder. Gasping in agony, he gripped his shoulder and made his way over to Lysander. One of his legs stuck out at an awkward angle. "Come on! I'll help you walk." Hurriedly, he pulled up Lysander and flung one of his arms over Nico's good shoulder. " Now let's GO!" Together they made their way as fast as possible to the gate. Lysander was hobbling and Nico's shoulder throbbed horribly. But the the last Hippalectryon was still on their heels, this one was larger than the other four had been, larger than Nico and Lysander together. It positively towered over them. To Nico's relief he saw the gate was only three feet away. Picking up the pace, Lysander's arm fell off Nico's shoulder. Snatching his wrist, Nico pulled Lysander behind him. And that's when he made it through the gate. Nico sank to the ground in relief. That's when he realized, Lysander hadn't. Groaning he got up to retrieve his friend. He didn't understand, hadn't he dragged Lysander through the gate? Nico spotted Lysander lying just barely outside the gate. Running toward him he barked, „What are you doing?! We need to get through the-" " I can't!" Lysander objected. Nico ignored Lysander and pulled him through the gate. The gateway glowed and shot Lysander backward into a tree, "What-?" Nico thought, and then he realized. Lysander wasn't able to get through the boundaries of the camp. Lysander lay knocked out cold at the foot of the tree, with the ginormous Hippalectryon bounding at him. He had only one option left. Lysander could not get into the camp and Nico doubted he could finish off the last monster, so he called upon all his remaining energy and lunged toward Lysander. Together the shadows enveloped them. Nico caught a glimpse of thick forest before toppling to the ground./p 


	6. Chapter 6

Lysander awoke with a groan, his body ached all over. Suddenly he bolted up and looked around him. He had just remembered being attacked by a huge fire breathing half horse. Next to him, Nico was lying face down on the ground. "Nico!" He shouted, scurrying beside the still figure. Gently he turned Nico over, testing for a pulse. He was relieved to find Nico had one. Sighing with relief he looked around, this was definitely not the same place they had fought the monster horses. In fact if his instincts were correct, they seemed to be far, far away from there. Nico must have shadow traveled. Nico's voice echoed in his mind, "I don't know if I have the strength to do that!". Crap! Nico must have used all of his energy to get himself and Lysander away from the attacking monsters, and passed out from the exertion. Lysander was at a loss, they were in the middle of nowhere, no civilization in sight, no food or water in sight and definitely no hospital in sight.

He did the best he could, Lysander had a few things in his pocket, an army knife and an empty 1 liter zip-lock bag. He propped Nico up against a tree, hidden from sight by a few bushes and left to take a look around. He didn't dare go too far, so he stayed within a twenty meter radius from where he had left Nico. He found a tiny stream, from which he took generous gulps of water and filled the zip-lock bag to bring to Nico. Sadly he found no kinds of nourishment, something his stomach whined about loudly. He trooped back to Nico, holding the bag to the boy's lips, force feeding him the stream water. But still Nico lied limp. "Come on, Nico!" he muttered trying to shake the boy awake. But to no avail. The son of Hades looked as still as death itself, with only a quiet heartbeat to prove Lysander otherwise.

Hours past and Lysander contented himself with taking short naps, concealed by bushes and trees, with daylight slowly fading into darkness. Lysander shivered and huddled next to Nico for warmth. Nico's forehead felt like ice upon inspection and Lysander unzipped his hoodie and threw it over the two of them, desperately hoping Nico would awake in the morning.


	7. Chapter 7

p style="margin: 0px 0px 13.3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Nico's eyes fluttered open. Pain pulsated from his shoulder and he felt weak. He also felt a body rising and falling against his. He jerked to the side. It was Lysander, who was curled up in the fetal position, deep asleep under a brown hoodie, which he noticed, was draped over himself as well. Scooting away from Lysander took an outrageous amount of energy, leaving him gasping for breath a few inches from where he had awoken. "Lysander" he croaked, nudging the figure next to him. "Lysander!" He jerked awake. "Nico! How are you feeling?" "Awful." Nico's voice was raspy, "do you have any water?" Lysander scrambled to retrieve the ziplock bag. He could tell Nico was in bad shape and afraid he would spill the entire contents of the bag if he let Nico drink himself, so he lifted the boy up into a halfway upright position against the tree. Holding up Nico's head in one hand and putting the bag to Nico's lips, the boy gulped up an entire liter. Lysander quickly removed his hand from Nico's chin, his face reddening, something he hoped went unbeknownst to Nico. They sat in silence. "You aren't a demigod, are you? Or you would have been able to get through that gate." Nico directed his words at his lap more than at Lysander. Lysander didn't respond immediately. "No, I guess not." Lysander felt ashamed. "Did you ever think you were?" Nico demanded. "Well I didn't lie, it's true that my dad is not a god. He's the most awful kind of human I know. And my mom, she died a couple years ago. I was eight." Lysander's voice was pained. "I thought just maybe, maybe she was a goddess, but I was kidding myself to think it was true, that I could be special." remorse and bitterness took over Lysander. "Well, you're mortal and you can see through the mist, that's pretty rare." Nico's head was bobbing from the effort of talking. Despite feeling ashamed for misleading Nico, he felt a swoop in his stomach at the compliment. "Then why did you run away?" Lysander didn't want to tell Nico, but he figured he owed him the truth. "My dad, he's…. We don't get along, since my mom died, especially recently…. He came home drunk a lot and I just wanted to get away. And when I saw you guys, it was an opportunity to get as far away from him as possible. And I took it." Nico nodded, he knew what it was like to have a fall-out with his father. He himself detested his father, it was because of him, that he had to endure such suffering. "And your leg?" Nico gestured at the leg Coach had bandaged up for Lysander on the first day. "Dad was drunk and I confessed," His voice faltered, "something - and we had this huge row, that's when he threw a bottle at me. The glass shards gashed my leg. Right then I knew I had to get out of there, so I grabbed a few things and fled. That's when I found you guys." Nico raised an eyebrow, but chose not to ask what Lysander had confessed to his drunk father that day. "That's rough, I'm sorry…. Explain about how you know everything about Mythology, your knowledge is too extensive for a typical class." Nico's words began slurring together. "Well if you saw randommythical creatures that no-one else saw and everyone, your friends and family thought you were insane...You would do some research too. I obsessed over them, it kept me sane." Nico remained silent for a while, possibly mulling this new information over. "Do we have any food?" Lysander's stomach dropped. "I haven't found any, but I didn't want to leave you on your own for long either…" "You starved to keep me safe?" Nico whispered. Lysander looked up nervously. "Well I'm the reason you're injured anyway, you should have gone to Camp and left me behind." "That was emnot /eman option! What are we going to do? You're going to have to leave! Are you insane, watching over me doesn't do anyone any good, if you die of STARVATION!" "FINE!" Lysander shouted at him. "Just trying to return the favor!" With that, he snatched up the empty zip lock bag and stormed out. Nico reflected he ought not have been so harsh, but chivalry made him angry. Percy did that constantly….If Percy had been with him… He imagined himself awakening next to Percy, feeling the rising and falling of Percy's body next to his instead of Lysander's. Or Percy telling him he had starved to keep Nico safe. Nico shook his head. How was it that Percy could creep into his thoughts like that? And with that he fell asleep, knowing he was too weak to even stay awake until Lysander returned. /p 


	8. Chapter 8

_The ground rumbled and deep laughter echoed around him. A boy was incased in darkness, turning in frantic circles, brandishing his sword as he paced. The laughter sent chills down his spine, and the ground shook, splitting into a gigantic void. The boy fell, screaming into the bottomless pit. _

"PERCY!" Nico bolted upright, drenched. Lysander stood above him, holding the zip lock. "You've been yelling in your sleep for ages, I couldn't wake you. When you started to flail I decided to dump the bag of water onto you." Lysander grimaced. "Are you okay?" Nico wiped the water off his face and panted. "Yeah, just a dream." Nico shook, Tartarus often haunted him in his sleep, but never before had it included Percy. The dream had felt so realistic… "Well, I found food anyway," Lysander dumped a pile of assorted nuts and berries into Nico's lap, which Nico gratefully scooped up in order to prolong the time in which he would have to talk again. "Who's Percy?" Lysander was fumbling with the zipper on his hoodie. Nico didn't want to talk about Percy, so he didn't respond. "Look," Lysander sighed, " I gave you my story. It's time you give me your's. We are stuck in the wild alone, don't you think we should know more about one another?" Nico raised his gaze to meet Lysander's. For the first time he noticed how brilliantly blue they were. Nico dropped his gaze once more. "I was born 70 years ago. My dad arranged for my sister and I to be brought to this hotel, where years pass in days. My sister- Bianca and I had our memories wiped and we were dropped off at this boarding school. That's when demigods found us, they wanted to bring us to the Camp, but we were attacked. Last minute we were saved by the huntresses of Artemis. And my sister joined them, she abandoned me, left me alone at Camp Half Blood." Lysander remained quiet, queuing Nico to continue. "She went off on a quest with Percy Jackson and some others, and he didn't save her. She died." Nico's voice was deadly silent now, but despite the anguish in his voice, he went on, "I ran away, I did some awful things trying to find out about my past. My mom was dead and my dad hates me. He wishes I was dead instead of Bianca. So I kinda roamed around, I don't belong anywhere, everyone thinks I'm a freak. Creepy son of Hades, who prefers the dead to the alive. Percy always tried to be nice, but I can tell, I scare him too. I scare everyone. I don't belong anywhere." Nico's voice cracked and he said no more, he just stared at the ground. Lysander always considered his own life as messed up, but this, this was a whole new level of messed up.

In retrospect Nico and him had very similar stories, despite his being ordinary and 'mortal' , whereas Nico's was filled with insane turns, you could only find in greek mythology. They both had shitty dads, who didn't care about them, considered them abominations and wished they didn't exist, their mothers were dead and they had no one left and nowhere to go. Lysander sighed. "For the record I don't think you're scary.

The next couple days merged together, spent mainly rebuilding Nico's strength and trying to find out more about where they were. They recollected they were somewhere in the suburbs of Maine. On the third day or so, Nico and Lysander were on the outskirts of a small village, their feet sore from walking. They were reasonably nourished as they had stolen some food from an abandoned convenience store. Nico was low spirited. " I DON'T GET WHY!" He aimed a kick at some pebbles. "I mean I am back to health, so why can't I shadow travel?" Lysander didn't think Nico was back to his strength, quite the contrary. Nico might be walking and talking, but he looked awful, with bags under his eyes darker and skin paler than ever before. But he chose not to tell his friend this. Nico felt awful, he couldn't really put his finger on it, but he did. It was like his heart had gone out and only bitterness was left. His emotions were like sucked away by some invisible force. The only good thing about it, was he was thinking less and less about Percy. "Good." He thought, "maybe I'm getting over him." Somehow Lysander's presence made it easier to shut out his thoughts. "A penny for your thoughts?" Lysander's voice sliced through Nico's thoughts. "Nothing really. I just wish I could shadow travel us back. Usually I can shadow travel even when I am weakened. And as I'm fine now, I don't understand what the matter is!" "I wish I knew, " Lysander patted Nico on the small of his back. Nico's face flushed, he could still feel exactly where Lysander's hand had grazed. "Our next best shot to getting back would be to iris message the others, but I don't have a drachma!" "That's all you need to iris message?" Lysander asked, "a drachma?" "Well a rainbow too, but as long as we have water and sunlight that's usually not an issue." Lysander looked thoughtful. "And how much talking time would that get us?" "A couple minutes, why? You don't have a drachma do you?" Lysander's eyes shifted to his wrist. "I do actually." He pushed back his sweater sleeve, lifting up the golden bangle around his wrist. Nico had never had a proper glance at the thing, but now he could make out a golden coin, with two holes punched into it to support a cord winding around his wrist. It was basic, but looked neat. "My mother gave it to me when she realized how much I love greek mythology." He slowly unwrapped the cord. "No. We'll find another way." " It's the best shot we have," Lysander argued. "But it's from your mom. You can't just use it for something like this." "She would want me too. And we need a way out of here. It's my choice anyway. Now let's make that rainbow." Nico felt bad. He knew that if he had had something left from his mother, he would be extremely reluctant to just give it away. And he could tell it meant a lot to Lysander. But he was right, momentarily it was their best shot at getting back. Using an empty window cleaner spray bottle from a trash bin and some of the ziplock water they created a small rainbow. Lysander hesitated but managed to release his bracelet into the rainbow, where it dissolved into thin air. "Thanks mom" he thought sadly. "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Hazel Levesque aboard the Argo II." Nico chanted. Lysander gave Nico a questioning look. "She's my half sister. Daughter of Pluto instead of Hades." Just then the face of a smiley chocolate skinned girl appeared. "NICO! What's wrong why aren't you at Camp Half Blood? Whose-?" "We don't have a lot of time, but we got separated from the others at the camp. The Parthenos got there alright but now we are gods know where and I can't shadow travel." " Oh gods Nico. What's wrong with your powers? Are you alright?" She was extremely concerned. " I'm fine and I don't know what's wrong." "Don't you know anything about where you are?" "YEAH, that we are somewhere in Maine." "We are too far to swing by, but maybe..." "What?" "Well I know you won't like it-" "spit it out!" "Well I could ask Piper to send her horse." Nico snarled, "anything to get out of here. Now tell me what's going on." As Nico and Hazel filled each other in, Lysander observed the bond between the two, Hazel acted motherly towards Nico and Nico let himself be coddled by her, which was something Lysander had not thought was possible for someone like Nico. After they filled each other in about the goings on of the war against Gaia, Nico turned to Lysander, "could you give us a minute? " "Umm yeah, no problem. I'll be over there. Nice to meet you", he nodded kindly at Hazel as he walked away. Nico glanced at his retreating figure before turning to face Hazel. She had an eyebrow raised. "And who's that?" "Reyna, Coach and I met him on the way, we thought he was a demigod, since he can see through the mist. But we were attacked while entering the Camp and the barrier wouldn't let him in. And I shadow traveled us to safety and haven't been able to do so since. I was out for a couple days solid, Lysander kept us alive." Hazel noticed his voice soften at the mention of Lysander. "Hey Nico, are you alright? I want the truth" " I feel better now that I-" " you know what I mean." Her voice got quieter. "I'm fine. How's-how's Percy?" Nico's eyes were studying the ground. "Alright as far as I can tell, we are all kind of exhausted. He's worried about you. I think he took your pushing him away the day you left personally." "Yeah, well I-" Nico's voice rose defiantly. "I'm just saying, you shouldn't push him away. He just wants to help-" "Yeah well he hasn't helped with anything!" Nico was scornful. "IT'S NOT BAD ENOUGH NORMALLY, BUT NOW I WAKE UP WITH DREAMS OF HIM DYING! He can feel as offended as he likes! He can try a taste of his own medicine!" All of Nico's angst and emotion came soaring into him. He had been doing so well he had thought. Maybe even getting over Percy. "Actually I think this week is the best I have felt in a bit. Being away from - _him_." "Hazel nodded and a pregnant pause ensued. "I'll tell the crew you say hi and just hang tight until Piper's horse comes. Stay safe alright?" Worry shimmered in her eyes. "Yes I promise. You too." And with that her image disappeared.

Lysander watched Nico recollect himself before heading back to Lysander. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but that's what the result had been. He felt slightly ashamed.

Nico and Lysander sat around the campfire that night (rummaging through trash bins they found an almost empty lighter, enabling them to start a little fire.) Nico recounted Hazel's plan, while Lysander prodded the fire with a long stick, causing sparks to fly up around him. He had been very quiet, uttering only one syllable responses. Nico reflected that he was deep in thought. So they sat in awkward silence. Through a frustrating churning in the pit of his stomach, Nico came to realize that it bothered him that his friend wasn't talking to him. He and Lysander had gone through a lot together, fought monsters, scavenged for food and shared stories. The fact that he could share something as personal as his family issues and his past with Lysander said a lot about their relationship. "_Relationship_? Did I just think relationship?" Nico thought, "We're not in a relationship. We are just good friends." But with that in mind he remembered that there was still one thing he hadn't told Lysander, something he hoped he would never have to. He turned his gaze to the figure hunched over, still busy making ambers float around him. He was still brooding. "Um." Nico cleared his throat, "I wanna clear the air and know what's going on, what's on your mind?" Lysander continued to prod the flames. Should he say something? He may ruin _everything_. But he guessed in the long shot there was probably more to gain. If his hunch was accurate. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "You have to let me finish though, alright?" Nico looked confused but nodded none the less. "Alright, well I um..." he made a strange sound in his throat, "heard you talking with your sister," he rushed, "and I want to know if there is something... I don't know..._more_, between you and Percy?" Nico's heart sank, they had arrived there.

Anger grew within him. What business was it of his? He had no right to eavesdrop on him and Hazel. "Well woke up in sweat screaming his name. And the the voice you used on him with your sister and she on you. Treading around each other like the subject was a grenade." All of this just spilled out of Lysander, a confused accumulation of his thoughts since the Iris message. It was Nico's time to brood. His jaw was clenched and his hands were fists at his side. Lysander figured this response was just as good as a confession and he was inwardly happy Nico couldn't shadow travel himself out of this one, because at the moment that's exactly what it looked like Nico wanted to do. "Listen it doesn't make a difference to me if you and Percy are more than just friends. I - I just wanted to know the truth." and with that he hung his head and stayed silent. "Percy and I aren't anything." Nico spat. "But you wish you were." Lysander whispered. "You are wrong!" Nico rose to his feet, "There might have been a time, but I'm over him! Why would it be any business of yours anyway? What makes you think you can just go eavesdropping and sticking your nose in my business anyway?!" Nico's voice had risen to a shout. Lysander's face was impassive. Barely loud enough he said, "because I know how you feel." "AHH!" Nico screamed in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. " NO ONE CAN KNOW! WHY DOES EVERYONE ALWAYS SAY THAT? HOW WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOVE SOMEONE WITH NO HOPE OF THEM EVER RETURNING FEELINGS FOR YOU, KNOWING THEY HAD A GIRLFRIEND AND NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE FEELINGS OF THE QUIET CREEPY BOY? HOW COULD YOU KNOW ANYTHING?" Nico had advanced on Lysander and now stood looming directly over where he sat. Lysander raised his gaze to meet Nico's "because." and with that Lysander leaned into Nico. His mind went numb as their faces came closer together. Remembering what Nico had said about being over Percy, hope ignighted inside him and it gave him the courage to close the gap dividing the two. Their lips met and Lysander brought his hand to the side of Nico's neck under the ear. To Lysander's astonishment, Nico was returning the kiss and everything felt right, as it hadn't since the day his father had thrown the bottle at him.


End file.
